“Goodbye 1982 … My turn soon” Now KBO ‘eldest brother’ Choi Hyung -woo, the golden generation Baton is connected (SS Focus)

Sports | baseball

(Sports Seoul | Reporter Kim Min -kyu) Samsung ‘End Pan Leader’ Oh Seung -hwan (43) takes off the uniform. The last star of ‘Golden Generation born in 1982’ loses. As a result, the league’s best ‘oldest’ title goes to 1983. KIA Choi Hyung -woo (42) is. Although he is a big brother, he is still wielding a bat as a batter four.

Oh Seung -hwan’s retirement is not just a farewell. Choo Shin -soo, Lee Dae -ho, Kim Tae -kyun, Jung Geun -woo, and Son Seung -rak were born one by one. Finally, he resigns to the last legend. Goodbye 1982.

Choi Hyung -woo, who joined Oh Seung -hwan and Samsung’s dynasty, said, “I was a little crying after seeing a retirement article.”

He is now the oldest KBO League. But he still runs into the main game. “I haven’t decided to retire. Now it’s okay, but I don’t know what’s going on. I have no choice but to do my best every day.”

When asked about memorable episodes, he said, “It was a timely hit.” Choi Hyung -woo recalled the challenge of Oh Seung -hwan’s single season’s single season (47 save) in 2011.

“Seung -hwan has left one new record and was ahead of three points and three points. If the 9th brother came up and stopped, it was a new record, but I hit eight timely hits.

It is a legend. The steadyness of Oh Seung -hwan’s written cannot be expressed in words. In 2006 and 2011, 47 saves were recorded at the time of the single season. It is no exaggeration to say that every season 30 saves were basic. 80 in Japan’s professional baseball (NPB) and 42 saves in the major leagues (ML). In 2021, 44 saves to the oldest 40 saves and salvation king titles.

I asked for a junior who succeeded Oh Seung -hwan. Choi Hyung -woo asserted, “There are many outstanding juniors, but Seung -hwan will be difficult to care.” “You have to be injured in the middle, you have to follow your luck.

He said, “I would have been very worried about retirement. You’re not easy to give up. Now I want to take a break. I’ve played baseball for more than 20 years,” he said.

One era is over and a new era opens. The golden generation retired, but Choi Hyung -woo is still holding on the KBO. It still wields a losing net. It is filling the ground with the language of challenge, not retirement. kmg@sportsseoul.com